Apparatus for treating hydrocarbons



Filed Fe y j NNN July 14, 1925.

W. E. WILSON ET AL APPARATUS FOR TREATING HYDROCARBONS July 14, 1925.

1,546,055 W. E. WILSON ET AL APPARATUS FOR TREATING HYDROCARBONS Filed Feb. l, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 if 30X July 14, 192s.

W. E. WILSON ET AL APPARATUS FOR TREATING HYDROCARBONS Filed Feb. 1, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 [lill/[f7 [141/ I l lill ll l] 1,"sli0wing`one ofthe bailles.

Patented July 14, 1925.

f UNITED 'STATES A.wrNrRrDE WILSON, oF SAN PEDRO, AND HovvARD-WWILSON, on 'EL SEGUNDO,

- CALIFORNIA. v

' APPARATUS ron TREA'HNG HYDnocARBoNs.

Application :ned February 1,1922.` serial No. 533,445,

To all whom it may comem; Be it known that We, WINFRED E. lVVrLsoN and HOWARD YV. WILsoN, citizens of the United States, residing at San Pedro and 6 El Segundo, respectively, in the cou nty of Los Angelesand State of California, have invented acertain nevv and :useful Apparatus .fori Treating Hydrocarbons, of which t-he following is a specificationw 41 0 Our invention relates to the treatment of hydrocarbon oils to obtain therefrom the vaIOuSconstituent products, and it has especial reference to an `apparatus vfor. subjecting oils'of the hydrocarbon classA to a fractionating process whereby a complete and efficient extraction and recovery" of the lighter hydrocarbon products from the crude or other oil treated may be accomplished.

2 0 Oney of thelobjects offou'r' iiriventionis to provideE 'an apparatus` Vsimplelin construc- .tion and economical' inifoperation, which the oil"' may' be 'subjected tothe action of varying degrees of {hea-t, beginning with A25 thatfloyvdegree requiredl for the liberation `Q the lighter'vapors, and progressing suc- 'cessively with increased temperature till anlendinoint is reached or tillallthe lighter .vapors have been driven 0E and a residuum .30 4 isle/ft unaffected by-ordnary distilling or fractionatingl temperatures.v

' Another object of thisv invention is to providefa simple apparatuswhichis automatic in operationand in which theoil may ,3.5 be treated by controllable., non-destructive temperatures; which the various Vvaporous products obtained may be separately condensedland collected; in which the heat may be uniformly .applied tothe oil body i9 or bodies, and in which destructive distillation may be practiced with equal facility as fractionation or distillation.

These and other objects We accomplish by -an apparatus illustrated .in preferred form j?? in the accompanying ldrawings, in which,

igQlisl an elevation, partly in section, sh0vving t he s`till, 'the compartments and b alle plates therein, andthe heat conductinatubesv o l Fig. 2 is, a sectional plan view showing the compartments7 the' baffles, the heating source andan auxiliary heat conducting means.k z

3 is avertical section on line 3 3,

provide a naturalIl 'gravitational i ilo ',Fig. 4 lis a verticalseetion online 'L 4, Fig. l, showing another of the bailles. fl

Fig. 5 is a vertical section ori 'line 5 -`5, Fig. 1 "'shovvi ng one ofthe platesor panels provided 'with amp'lurality of baille' plates 9, 9,+10,51 0f, 11; '1125211111' 12, 12'; die baffle plates 9. 10, '11 `and "12 being'conncted to o ne wall of the 4stillchamber andekteiid- 3 5 ing to near the yother vv'all thereovfto leave a space 13, 14,'15 and 16,; and the' other baille plate 9', 10",x 11 and 12, being` connected to the oppositef'vvall ofthe still .chamber and extending to near thejotlier Wall 9 0 thereof tole'avela space. 17,"18,`19`, and Through'these spaces in the respective `c orn- ,partmentsfthe' oil, introduced through a pipe 21,`is caused to'- travel, by the' tilt 1of V the s till chamber in ahori'zontally sinuoujs'pathf 1 each'of' the compartments'. G'andfl'frelspectively, Ais also laY plate 2 2. 23` and 24, eirtending entirely acrossthe still chamber and provided at one end with a cut-out portion 22,'23 and 24. seen in Fig. 5, for permit- 190 ting the oil to flovvover said cutout portions and thence from one compartment to another yWhile maintaining the' leyelof the oil in each cornpa `rtment.'The cutout portions of the plates 2 2, 23 and 24 may or may m5 .not be of equal heights, but'are arranged in Esuch manner that the slope of the still brings each cut-out portion on a plane lower than the preceding one and hencethe level of the oil varies progressively in the compartments Il las treatment. To permit the travel of the oil from one compartment to another, the respective partitions 2,. lSand 4, dividing-the same, are respectively provided with openings 2, 3 and 4', shown in Fig. 6, o n sides opposite to the cut-out portions 22' ,23" and' 24', of the plates 22, 23,* and 24. In this manner and by the withdrawal vof the oil from one compartment to another at the bottom of the dividing partition the oil itself .forms a seal for the generated-and liberated vapors and prevents the vapors in one compartment -from entering another. As seen from Fig. 1, the -oil level in each compartment varies, in order to facilitate-the gravitational lflowfrom one compartment to another during the fractionating treatment, and the bailles and plates aforementioned, `are consequently valso of-the same hei ht in a single compartment but of di erent heights inone compartment las 'compared with the baille plates vof another compartment, and extend sulliciently high above the oil levelsI to prevent the oil flowing over the top ofthe same. In thefcompartment 8, the level of the oil is regulated by the outlet pipe 25having a. valve 26, and hence the `plate 27 Qtherein, is in Iform and function. identical with` one of the b aflleplates in 'the compartments. The compartments may he. rovided with valved drain pipes-28,29 and) 30`respectively, for obvious purposes, the drain pipe for the compartment 8, not being shown. The compartments are also provided on the top thereof with valved vapor `lines 31, .32, 33 and 34 respectively,leading to suitable condensers, not shown. v-

The lheat for effecting the fractionation ofthe traveling oil is conducted through a plurality ofseries ofsuperposed coils 3,5, 36 and 37, extendingthrough .the compartments and the'subdivisions thereof formed b y the baffles and plates. These coils are connected at the outlet end of the still chamber with a header or distributor 38, through which the heat from a lire box 39 is conducted to-and through the coils, the greatest heat being delivered to the compartment 8, to which the oil has traveled throught the other lconn- Epartments and undergone fractionating action, and hence requires a higher heat than that oil in the .preceding compartments. Obviously the temperature of the frases travcling or induced through the coils ldiminishes from compartment to compartment, wherein V the oil flows counter .to the flow of the hot gases or :heating 1nedium,vand hence the oil in each compartment may receive just that degree of temperature whichis required Yfor fractionation. The Vseries of coils are submerged 1n the oil, which, as stated,A is constantly in flow, and are connected at the i'nle'tend ofthe still chamber to a header 40,'

' viouslythe valves 42, may also be left open having communication with a stack 41, by which the hot gases or heating medium is induced from the fire box through the coils.

iObviously othermeans-may be provided to induce or force the hot gases or heating medium through the coils.

In order to furnish to the compartments 5, 6 and 7, additional or greater hea-t, than would ordinarily be conducted through the coils, as where it may bc desired to crack or further refine or otherwise subject the oil to dissociating action, the heat fromthc tire box 39, may be caused to enter directly into theA particular coils of one or more compartments, and to accomplish this, we lia-vc made the following arrangement. Each of thev coils 35, 36 and 37, is provided with a valve 42, for controlling the travel -of the hot gases therethrough. Leading from and connected to the header 38, is a pluralitf of-pipes 43, 44 and 4.5, each connected wit i the coils extending through each compartment and provided with valves 46, '47 'and 48, for controlling the passage of the hot gases from said -pipes to the compartments. The pipes 43, 44 and 45, are 'also `provided with valves 49, and 5,1, near the point of connection thereof with the header 38, in order to prevent the loss of. heat` rwhen the valves I46,47 and 48 ar"e"closed.l When excess or greater heat is required'fin/,the compartments or any :one 'of them, 'the valves 42 may be closed and thed'falves 49,

50 and 51, opened.. Any of the 'valves 426, 47 and 48, may then 'be 'opened'as required and the h'ot gases from the lire box conducted directly to rthe compartment where the greater heat Yis desired or required. Ob-

in which event the h ot gases may travel through the coils 35, 36 and 3 7, and simultaneously through the pipes 43, 44 and 45, thus providing the greatest amount of 'heat required in one or more of the compartments. y Y

The oil, as stated, is introduced into the still chamber, through the pipe 2l, into the compartment 5 wherein theheat from 'the coils is suilicient for liberating the lighter hydrocarbon constituents, which collect in the top of the compartment and .above the oil, that forms the seal and prevents the passage of the vapors from one compartment to another. rlfhe generatedvapors are carried from such compartment through the vapor line, as described. Fromthis compartment, the oil travels successively to and through the adjoining compartments, wherein the .-samesteps and actions are performed as in the first compartment, the temperature increasing progressively 1h each zone.

Where the oil treated has a tendency to foam during the treatment thereof, 'diie -to the pressure of water or a. condition of emulsion, pressure may be maintained on the still chamber by closing the valves on the vapor line, preferably of the compartment 5.

What We claim, is:

1. An apparatus for treating hydrocarbons comprising a chamber having an inlet and an outlet and divided into a plurality of compartments, the dividing WallsI of said compartments provided in the bottoms thereof With openings, a vapor outlet for each compartment, means in the vari ous compartments for maintaining the oil levels constant, and a plurality of series of superposed pipes Within said compartments Jfor heating the oil therein to progressing temperatures.

2. An apparatus for treating hydrocarbons comprising a chamber inclined to the horizontal and having an inlet and an outlet, said chamber being divided into a plurality of compartments, the dividing Walls of said compartments provided with openings in the bottom thereof, vertical bafiing means in each compartment, a plate in each of the compartments for maintaining the oil level therein constant, a plurality of series of coils in each compartment and eX- tending between said baling means, and means to supply to said coils a heating medium whereby the oil in each compartment is progressively subjected to increasing temperatures in its travel from compartment to compartment.

3. An apparatus for treating hydrocarbons comprising a chamber inclined to the horizontal and provided with a plurality of compartments, the dividing Walls of said compartments having openings in the bottom thereof, baffling means in each compartment, a vertical plate in each compartment having a cut-out portion at one side to maintain the level in a certain compartment constant, means to heat the oil in said compartments comprising a series of superposed coils, a source of heat to which said coils are connected, and means con nected with the source of heat and with certain of said coils leading in and out of said compartments to supply increased heat to one or more of said compartments.

In testimony whereof We have set our hands.

WINFRED E. WILSON. HOWARD W. WILSON 

